Рецепт A Two-fer Meal
A Two-fer Meal
'ELLEN HERE!!!!' (my homage to Billy Mays, may he rest in peace)
Today is your lucky day! Why? Because I'm going to give you something extra special today; for a limited time only you will be receiving not one, but two meals all in one post!
'What?' You say? 'Ellen, how can you do that?' I know, I know, it's because I'm craaaaaaazy!
Actually this happens every time I cook frequently. I am some kind of strange freak who things she has a ginormous family to feed (even though there are just 2 1/2 of us) so I always (literally) make way too much food and then have to figure out what the heck to do with it. Lately though, I have morphed my strange freakish tendency into an interesting hybrid. Instead of making a huge portion of the one meal, I figured I could just useof the ingredients which I have made way too much of leaving the 'raw' ingredients left over to make something completely new! Genius, I know :)
So without further ado, I give you the 'today only' special, spotlight on ROASTED VEGETABLES!
MEAL NUMBER ONE...
GRILLED VEGGIES AND FRESH PASTA
My original intent was to make a delicious pasta to pair with Honey's current crab eating addiction. I lurve Bellingham Pasta Co. so they were my base. I also lurve vegetables of all kind and the grill plus veg equals yes.
This is a super light meal without a real 'sauce'. Honey is a sauce hoe so he was a little taken aback but the roasted garlic redeemed the dish for him. I, on the other hand am not a sauce girl... never have been which is why I made it the way I did...
Need:
1/2 pkg fresh pasta (I used Bellingham Pasta Co's roasted red pepper linguini; you could also use dry pasta)
1 yellow squash, cut into chunky bite size quarters
1 zucchini, cut into chunky bite size quarters
1/2 walla walla sweet onion, cut into chunky bites
1 leek, white part sliced lengthwise then horizontally, creating 1/2 to 1 inch chunks
1/2 'meat' from a roasted garlic bulb (remember that from the bread salad post?)
Extra virgin olive oil
Truffle salt
Truffle oil
Do:
Get you're grill ready... med/high heat.
Chop all your veg and skewer them loosely. I did the squash and zucch together (order/pattern doesn't matter) then the onion and leek together. Put them on a plate and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and some truffle salt.
Put 'yer skeers' on the grill and let go for about five minutes on each side, ensuring that the lovely grill marks are apparent all over.
In a pot, boil some salted water for your pasta and cook accordingly. Note: if you are using fresh pasta, remember that cook time is significantly less than with dry pasta.
When pasta is done, drain and let rest for a minute.
When your veg is done, de-skewer it and put it all into a bowl. Scoop the 'meat' out of the garlic bulb (get it all out... or at least as much as you can... use a lot!!) and add it to the veg. Give it all a good toss to incorporate the garlic.
Mix HALF (hence the twofer meal) of it in with your pasta. Give everything a toss to incorporate the garlic and other flavors.
Serve:
In a bowl or on a plate, pile it high and make sure to finish it with a drizzle of truffle oil and light sprinkle of truffle salt.
It's so simple but super light and flavorful with the garlic and truffle... mmmm. Perfect for a hot summer day.
MEAL NUMBER TWO...
ROASTED GARLIC QUESADILLAS WITH (OR WITHOUT) FRESH DUNGENESS CRAB
It's crabbing season here so we were at the beach this weekend with the family; my brother brought his boat so they could all go out and catch some crab. My mother said 'I hope they catch something because otherwise we'll be having cereal for dinner!' Well, her hope came true; there were ten of us, all who had crabbing licenses and after multiple trips (to be legal with the licenses) we ended up with a little under our limit. In other words: that's a lot of crab... a lot.
So, I assume everyone knows my stance on eating seafood vs. meat products; if not, feel free to check out my About Me page which explains. I put that on there because someone from a veg site that I post for was apparently offended that I post for a veg site because I eat seafood. It is my choice, I don't post seafood on that site, if you don't eat seafood, leave it off this dish (the cheese is vegan) or skip it entirely.
Do you want to hear the honest truth? Actually seeing the 'process' of 'taking care' of the crab made me sad... so I chose to turn away... maybe that makes me a bad veg/veggie/pesce whatever the heck I am. I did eat the crab though, so...
Also, I'm tagging this recipe vegan/vegetarian/pescetarian because it could be all of the above. On to the recipe!
Need:
2 garlic scapes, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
The rest of the grilled squash from above
The rest of the grilled zucchini from above
The rest of the grilled walla walla from above
The rest of the grilled leek from above
Daiso brand vegan cheese (it's already shredded)
Corn tortillas, handmade or purchased (the grocery store that I no longer shop at had the best tortillas but now that I refuse to shop there, I have to buy others or make my own)
- About 1 1/2 to 2 cups crab meat, shelled of course
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon citrus vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
- Fresh ground pepper
- Salt
Do:
In a sautee pan, heat up some olive oil and sautee your scapes until soft, about five minutes. To the scapes, add the leftover veg as stated above. Stir to incorporate and let cook just a few minutes, until warm.
When warm, turn of sautee pan. Note: it's ok if the veg isn't super hot... it's going in a tortilla and will get warmed up even more along with the cheese.
On a griddle or flat pan, lay out your bottom tortilla and put some Daiso brand cheese. Top the cheese with some of your grilled veg. Add a little more cheese then top with another tortilla.
Cook on med/high heat until cheese is melted and tortilla is brown; flip carefully and let cook on the other side.
While your quesadillas are cooking, combine the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a jar and shake it up. Add this to the crab meat and combine. Note: if you do not eat crab then you can omit this step.
Note: this is the first time I have used this cheese; I tried it upon recommendation by my good friends Abby and Hayden who love it; I love it equally.
When finished cooking, transfer to a plate and top with crab meat. Note: as above, if you're skipping the crab meat, omit this step.
Serve:
I didn't slice the quesadilla with crab before serving because I thought it would 'mess up' my presentation. Honey cut it after I took a picture though and it still didn't look too bad.
I did, however, slice the vegan version, as shown.
Enjoy you two-fer meal... hey, that's two nights' dinner you don't have to worry about. That means more time in the sun, if that's your bag!